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Sun, 02 Aug 2015 01:15:20 +0000PunBBhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=729&action=new
Congrats Athenaeum, what a fantastic website, and to include a forum is just brilliant. I am hoping a may get some help from the forum with regards to my research on the artist Thomas Gainsborough. There are many unanswered queries i have, and so many answers i have been finding online over the past years! Even better is that each year more research information comes to light with archived files being uploaded. Thank you so much for your time with having this resource available!!

My focus for this post is Thomas Gainsborough's Oil on Boards/Wood/Panel. I will post more where appropriate on your forum concerning this, however it is known that alot of information can be given from the back of a painting. I am trying to find all known (and possibly attributed to the wrong artist as it is painted on wood panel) Thomas Gainsborough's Oil on Wood paintings - but just as important i need to view the backs as i believe he did a series of oil on panels that will have similar features on the reverse. Ebay i have noticed when selling artworks photograph fronts and backs - but in general it is very hard to obtain images of the reverse.

how would i be able to see photos of the reverse of this painting to see the Type of panel treatment, thickness, width/height etc. Thank you. P.S it also may help to have some features available here when posting so you can make type bold/italic etc

James Gorin von GroznyGosh support for your project has been tops. Hope you can inquire beyond great institutions to the private 'Artist's Home' operation, and 'exit through the gift shop' (thanks Banksey- Geoff you looney). Other dangers lurk in these places, not least a version of history that suits their unique artifacts. The specialist authority is unchallenged, yet self-empowering. If a drawing believed by Gainsborough, say, is discovered, only that Museum can endorse it. Something of potential value/cost that does not belong to the asset-based business, or contradicts their version of the Artist is judgement compromised.4 hours agoLike(1)DeleteManuela ToderasJames Gorin von GroznySmaller self-sufficing museums are often not qualified to make judgments on certain artifacts, eg. the keepers of a literary history may not be trained in art appraisal or facial recognition, when presented with a supposed portrait, authentication may also depend, or be influenced by value/availability or how the object reinforces or corroborates the commercial line. The Wildenstein refused a Monet recently because it was too ordinary and would deflate the Artist's premium, but there is no doubt it is genuine. Swinging facts the other way, the Bronte Museum purchased a photo and interpreted it's provenance suiting their version of a healthy, good-girl Charlotte. It featured on cover of an official book. With benefit of fresh reference to an accurate detailed portrait of Charlotte, the chubby, mid-forties fisher-woman of photo turns out to be Charlotte's 'best friend', Ellen Nussey. (Charlotte expired emaciated aged 39). In 2005 the BM bought and restored a pastel drawing 'Lady in Bonnet' by unknown maker, thought to be Charlotte ('the portrait she mentioned in Brussels'!) the £15k investment based on interpretation of provenance. Possibly by fluent/formulaic street Artist, the portrait itself proves to be not quite Charlotte, but her biographer Elizabeth Gaskill. However, BM do not accept a group photo of the Sisters discovered in S.France recently, logically pointing out that such an occasion (early photo) and memento would be remembered and known. BM miss a 'reason' the photo was never seen, and fact that the probing, heartless lens betrays Charlotte's growing dependence on opium/laudenum. Yes, Charlotte was a tower of integrity, bewailed and condemned her brother's indulgence, and according to biographer never took a drop or grain of opium, only experienced her intoxicated descriptions in dreams. During the late 1830's a series of 'packages' were concealed in the grounds of the parsonage by a confidante known as 'E'. No one knows what was in them, who was 'E' or why 'E' should not simply call in when passing. EG says 'E' is Ellen Nussey, but Charlotte always called her 'Nell', and no social reason not to call in. Sad to say Charlotte's sympathizer may have been Edwin Landseer (London's Lions), but he un-famously encouraged the girls to 'paint with a pen' and inspired the pseudonym 'Bell' (Landseer's own mentor/business advisor.) Following lewd, shocking reports of madness and incarnation 1839 (see Emily's 'The Absent One''), Landseer never knew the Brontes again. Poor Charlotte's 'penchant' for the cruel comfort feasibly contributed to her early exhaustion, perhaps originating in childhood/puberty when she damaged her lower right knee, permanently impairing her mobility (see opening and closing sentences first para 'Jane Ayre'). Charlotte's 1830 w/c drawing based on Landseer's 'Hours of Innocence' dates an ugly brown scar diagonal below right knee, again in 1834 'Lycidas' ('fragile butterfly') with sutures cover 'Art of the Brontes' [Sellars/Alexander] but not noticed, and drawn by Landseer in scintillating nude candelight on verso of the fresh reference mentioned. When BM were asked by BBC about the Bronte/Landseer portrait they referred to professor Francis O'Gorman who told them; 'No one knew the Brontes outside their family circle in 1830's- there was no reason for a top Artist to stop by and paint them'. Yet the Leeds professor forgot or did not know that in Leeds itself in 1834, Charlotte exhibited her drawings alongside stars of the day including friends Robinson and Leyland, Linnel, Turner, Palmer and Charlotte's quarry, Landseer himself. At brave 16, Charlotte was not only the youngest at the Royal Northern Festival for the Encouragement of Vis. Arts, but the only female Exhibitor.The title of her drawing 'Bolton Abbey' was 'borrowed' from hero Landseer, that summer staying with 'Bachelors' at Bolton Hall next to the Abbey, and the same exhibited by Landseer in London earlier that year, of course was designed to attract his attention, and so it did.

]]>Mon, 08 Jun 2015 15:26:31 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=711&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=709&action=new
Argentine President Orders Declassification of All Falklands War Documents Sputnik InternationalArgentine President Orders Declassification of All Falklands War Documents ? Sputnik Sergey Guneev23:50 03.04.2015(updated 02:01 04.04.2015) Get short URLAmid escalating tensions, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina on Thursday ordered the declassification of all secret documents related to the country’s 1982 Falklands war with Britain.Speaking on the 33rd anniversary of Argentina&rsquo;s invasion of the disputed south Atlantic islands, which it calls the Malvinas, Kirchner said the defense ministry had 30 days to make all files on the conflict public. ? Flickr David Stanley Argentina Complains to UN Over UK’s 'Militarization' of FalklandsIn her final presidential address on the anniversary &ndash; she leaves office in October &ndash; Kirchner also criticized Britain&rsquo;s recent announcement that it will beef up its defenses in the islands.Fern&aacute;ndez said Argentina was determined to gain sovereignty over the islands, but through diplomatic means.“International law and dialogue,Seo工具, not militarization, are the path to a reunion and sovereignty,” she said. “We will see the islands form part of our territory again. It&rsquo;s not just wishful thinking.”Last week, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon announced plans to spend $267 million over 10 years to counter “continuous intimidation” from Argentina in the Falklands.Fern&aacute;ndez&rsquo;s government condemned the measure as “provocation,” and on Thursday the president urged Britain to spend its money instead on ending unemployed Britons&rsquo; reliance on food banks. — Falkland Islands (@falklands_utd) April 3, 2015 “Spend your money feeding the English, on providing jobs for your young people and a better quality of life for the British, because we are not a threat to anyone.” she said.Argentina claims it inherited the remote islands from Spain when it gained independence.Britain argues it has historically ruled the islands and that the islanders should have the right to self-determination. In a 2013 referendum, 99.8% voted to remain a British overseas territory. ? AP Photo Victor R. CaivanoUK Can Neither 'Confirm Nor Deny' Spying on Argentina Over FalklandsThe dispute has flared again in recent years since the discovery of significant oil deposits off the islands. This week, two British companies announced they discovered oil and gas reservoirs after a nine-month drilling campaign.In order to prevent Argentina from invading the islands again, the United Kingdom spied on Argentinian military and leadership communications, according to documents released by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.British intelligence wanted to gather information that could be used to manipulate public opinion in the country, so as to limit popular support for Argentina to invade the Falkland Islands, the Intercept reported.The 74-day Falklands war claimed the lives of 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British soldiers and three islanders.]]>Fri, 05 Jun 2015 04:04:41 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=709&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=706&action=new
The invaluable default facility/faculty of view count is still withdrawn/withheld or disfunctioning- is there technical or political reason? The facility helps readers, authors and surely our rugged, leading-edge host measure what is topical. Restriction of any available data, even if considered unimportant to some, is retrograde.]]>Wed, 27 May 2015 19:51:17 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=706&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=695&action=new
Please add Helen Frankenthaler to the artist list]]>Sun, 05 Apr 2015 20:19:16 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=695&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=692&action=new
No suggestions yet, rather just wanted to express my appreciation for the work you've done here. Thanks.Charley.]]>Sat, 04 Apr 2015 05:14:05 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=692&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=689&action=new
Here are some suggestions to improve the website layout (with pictures) and to deal with the design of the site on mobile platforms.

1: When an artist has a picture on his page and a long biography written, some place is wasted below the picture. The text should fit the whole width of the page.

2: There should be links to the museums in the 'top owners of works by this artist".

3: There are two sets of tabs on the page and it may be a bit confusing. There is a "biography" tab whilst the biography is written above, etc. Perhaps we could gather all the tabs at the place, or hide the biography and add an "expand button" to reduce the length of page.

4 & 5: There should be a bibliography tab and a "history" tab.

]]>Tue, 24 Mar 2015 18:03:12 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=689&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=616&action=new
As the German museum system seems to be second to none in complexity, I create a thread to deal with it.

Germany is a federal country, so museums are usually run by the Länder with structures named "Staatliche Museen/Kunstsammlungen (zu) [name of the land]".

In a bigger land like Bavaria, there are a different museum system as explained above in each big city of the land (I have found that for Munich and Augsburg). In Berlin, there are two different bodies with several museums affiliated (the Land and the City systems).

Moreover, several museums are sometimes hosted in the same buildings, an a museum can be split in different sites.

Finally, not all the museums in the Land belong to the State Museum structure. There are national and city museums.

So I will post here lists of museums by Land, with the links on the site. Several entries on the Athenaeum are not museums, but the governing bodies and therefore must be deleted - and the artworks linked to them must be linked with the correct museum.

German members of the Athenaeum can help!

EDIT:1. Some museum groups have dependencies in several Lander, such as the Museumsstiftung Post und Telekommunikation (Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt, and Nuremberg), or the Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg.

]]>Sat, 13 Sep 2014 15:24:19 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=616&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=587&action=new
Have you ever looked at something and felt inner rebellion against what you're told about it?Sometimes intuitive objection is so compelling we seek an explanation- something we're told or have learned is wrong. I found this on the cover of acclaimed biography of Charlotte Bronte (since amended), the contented subject of photo not Charlotte but her best friend' Ellen Nussey'- one example of how reliable provenance can be miss-interpreted or miss-appropriated- or how new information can contradict old.

There must be very compelling provenance attributed to Eva Gonzales' recently uncovered 'Self-portrait', unequivocally listed on these pages. The first contradicting detail obvious is that it's not a self-portrait, nor subject's view. It not possible to paint one's self without looking (Herni Rousseau's comical 'peripheral vision' exercise 'Looking at the Lamp' 1903 [also wrongly listed: 'With Lamp']). The sketch can't be a self-portrait because neither wonky eye is looking at her self.It is also tiny- 8" X 10" not 'larger than life' 18" X 24" suggested in Athenaeum description. Seated self-studies, mirror at arm's length, usually scale subject c. 3/4 life-size. Why place the reference (mirror) so far away?Secondly, the likeness cannot be consolidated with any known image of Eva Gonzales.

Eva is distinguished with a facial 'mole', or 'fairy kiss' 1cm below right lip extreme not apparent in sketch- the mark is consistently and faithfully depicted in sister Jeanne's exquisite drawing, all Manet's portraits and in a crisp, hi-res photo. Also, defying vanity, her real self-portrait '46. Mille Vue_' ('Thousandth Look') Feb 1879 faithfully depicts the tiny, indelible distinction, but uniquely, on the opposite, mirror-reflected side. There is no 'fairy kiss' evident below 'pursed' lips or chiseled chin of oil-sketch. The elfin-faced pixie with auburn curls is not the fleshy looker that stole Manet's infatuation.

The caption is by Eva, but not the Fleeting Star her self.It is an impossibly rare and significant moment of exchange between Eva and her rival Berthe Morisot.I wrongly imagined the wandering left eye was Eva's mischief.

It was not Eva's mischief. Actually her diligence and fidelity that depicted Berthe's wonky left eye. Berthe was distinguished with genetic condition in which one or selectively either/both eyes point outwards, sometimes described 'reversed esotropic vision', rare especially among artists and evidently long intriguing Manet..Although Manet manipulated features, he always included distinguishing features, and his early favourite muse no exception- all his portraits of Berthe show her awkward eye, and again defying vanity, for pure fidelity and posterity, even Berthe's own self-portrait points her left (right reflected) eye outwards. There is no doubt the recently Certified and re-sold oil-sketch is not Eva Gonzales' self-portrait, but her impeccable caption of Berthe Morisot.The Certifying expert did not offer a date or theme, or occasion motivating or inspiring the Artist to suddenly visit and dash out her image on a drawer-bottom. The subject's assumed i/d was established by reference to; one unspecified Manet portrait and one other portrait by unknown maker in private hands. Expert made no reference to photos or fine drawing by the Artist's sister relied on by expert to establish Eva's appearance in C.Raisonne.

This at first bemusing portrait had good reason for Eva's making. Like Eva's real self-portrait, her sketch of Berthe is associated with marriage. Here is the pensive bride, in transparent, symbolic whiteness, in twilight of maidenhood, here this moment surrendering a personal dimension in her relationship with Manet to her facing rival with the flying brush. (Once married, Berthe would never pose for Manet again.)Seen in perspective, must rate among Eva's greatest works.

What puzzles me is why is this memento masterpiece believed to be the Artist's 'self-portrait'? While so, the real, irrefutable 'Cinderella' waits, and weeps, barred from public view. Does anyone disagree with observation the 'self-portrait' oil-sketch is Eva's Berthe Morisot?

Best wishes, James Gorin von Grozny.

]]>Sun, 08 Jun 2014 17:50:26 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=587&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=574&action=new
I think the following mediums should be added to the current list:' oil on copper' and 'oil on paper'.

I am also wondering how we should enter artworks for which the medium has been changed. For instance, an oil painting on canvas transferred on panel can either be sorted under 'oil on canvas' or on 'panel'. Which one is correct, the original or the current state?

Josselin

]]>Sun, 09 Mar 2014 18:38:01 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=574&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=573&action=new
Hello, I think an attribute for the Source/Photographer of an image is missing. This is standard today at wikipedia.]]>Fri, 28 Feb 2014 19:53:44 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=573&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=558&action=new
Chris,

I think you should create a section somewhere to display the most popular artworks and artists, based on the number of visits on each page. Thus, it could show me on where I should focus my work (writing texts and updating contents).

I would like to know if you could make a change on the 'what's new?' page. The Athenaeum is set on the American time zone, but from Europe I cannot see what has been uploaded on the later hours of the day (I'm sleeping!) and these artworks have vanished from the page when I wake up. Maybe you could change the code to display artworks posted on the previous 24 hours instead of the previous day.

I think you should add a box for alternative names of museums - as you did for artworks - in order to enter both the original name and the translation in English. It would be especially useful for museums of Eastern Europe, where languages are very different from English. For example, the National Gallery of Hungary is named "Magyar Nemzeti Galéria" in Hungarian - not easy to guess at first sight!

Josselin

]]>Sun, 26 Jan 2014 11:11:00 +0000http://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=549&action=newhttp://www.the-athenaeum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?id=548&action=new
Hello, i have a few general questions:

1) Do you have an max/preferred image size or file size?2) You only have a detail of a good painting, but it is not found somewhere else in this quality. Is an upload ok or only images of the whole painting?3) What is with black and white images, where no colored version exist. Is this upload ok?4) A totally different question. The only owner of this site is, as far as i read, Chris. What, if something happen to him (we all hope this will not be the case). Will the site than go offline forever and all the work is lost?